The present invention relates to exercising and training for baseball and softball and, more particularly, to a warm-up, exercise and training bat that incorporates a sliding weight mechanism inside a lightweight plastic tube disposed in a metallic or wooden bat.
When a baseball or softball player attempts to hit a baseball or softball during a game, the player initially takes a standing position at the plate and holds a bat in a rearward cocked position. Once the pitch is thrown, the player swings the bat from the laterally rearward cocked position, through a frontal hitting position, and to a follow-through laterally forward position. The player swings the bat at an appropriate time after the pitcher facing the player has thrown the ball towards the plate where the player is standing. The player begins swinging the bat at the appropriate time. The swing is based on the player making the necessary eye and arm coordination for swinging the bat at the appropriate time in view of the perceived travel of the baseball towards the plate. The batter must take into account the speed of the ball, the type of pitch and the expected flight path to the plate. Ideally, the bat impacts the baseball and causes the ball to travel outwardly from the plate into the game field, or preferably beyond.
Many techniques and devices for improving the batting abilities of baseball and softball players are known to exist, both with a fixed weight and those with a sliding weight. However, none of these techniques and devices includes a bat which provides the weight, balance, and performance of a standard game bat, and does not include external attachments, and does not have an irregular shape.
Therefore, a need exists for a warm-up bat that provides the tactile feel, weight, balance, and performance of a standard game bat, does not have any external attachments, and does not have an irregular shape.